This invention relates generally to portable containers for temperature sensitive products and more particularly to a flexible insulated pouch used in shipping refrigerated and frozen pharmaceutical and food products. The apparatus provides temporary storage that allows refrigerated and frozen pharmaceutical and food products to be transported without spoilage.
Portable containers for temperature sensitive products have been commercially available for many years. One type of container available is a rigid, molded foam walled portable container. Because this type of container is constructed from Expanded Polystyrene and other resins it is prone to damage from impact during transportation and storage. Another disadvantage is that the container is rigid and does not allow for convenient storage and shipping due to space considerations.
Another type of portable container is a flexible portable container. Because the container is flexible it allows for convenient storage and shipping. However these flexible containers are disadvantaged by incorporating vacuum packed open celled foam panels that require the operator using the container to puncture each panel prior to shipment to release the vacuum seal. Consequently, the ability of such flexible containers to provide adequate insulation during transportation and temporary storage of refrigerated and frozen pharmaceutical and food products is directly related to the successful puncturing of these vacuum packed opened celled foam panels. Therefore, it is desirable to have a flexible portable container that does not require the operator to puncture the vacuum packed foam panels.
The present invention provides a protective, flexible, insulated structure for transportation and temporary storage of refrigerated and frozen pharmaceutical and food products without spoilage and without having to puncture vacuum packed foam panels. This is done by making a pouch that has multiple plies of closed cell polypropylene foam and a polypropylene film on the inside of the pouch that is enclosed in a film bag.
There are various needs for portable containers for temperature sensitive products. Some of these needs include storage and shipping of food and pharmaceutical products. The present technology for shipping controlled temperature products is rigid foam coolers with refrigerant gel packs, bricks or sheets.
The rigid foam coolers provide adequate insulation for refrigeration however they don""t provide an efficient means for transportation. The rigid foam is constructed from expanded polystyrene and other resins. This type of foam is crushable and prone to damage from impact during the transportation process. Additionally, because of the rigid design it is not practical in transportation because of space considerations.
Because the rigid foam coolers were inefficient in the transportation process flexible portable containers are being used.
One example of a flexible portable container is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,620,633, Protective Envelope Device for Packaging Fragile Articles issued Nov. 4, 1986 to Lookholder. This device was originally designed for cushioning but it has been adapted to the insulated shipping application due to a product void in the market. It has an outer wall and an inner wall with a mass of compressed resilient open-celled cellular material enclosed in the space between the walls. In order for this device to work properly the operator is required to puncture the open celled foam panels prior to shipment to release the vacuum seal. The ability of this device to provide adequate insulation is directly related to the successful puncturing of the vacuum packed open celled foam panels. The success of this device is therefore subject to human error.
There is no known apparatus that provides an efficient means for transporting and temporary storage of refrigerated and frozen pharmaceutical and food products without the need for an operator to correctly puncture open celled foam panels. The present invention solves the problem by providing a flexible insulated pouch for transportation and temporary storage of refrigerated and frozen pharmaceutical and food products without spoilage thereof without the need to puncture the vacuum packed foam panels as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,620,633.
The present invention provides a flexible insulated pouch. The apparatus has a pouch having multiple plies of closed cell polypropylene foam. A film bag made of material which acts as a moisture and oxygen barrier surrounds the pouch. A heat seal on the film bag joins the film bag to one side of the pouch. The present invention also provides for a flexible insulated pouch wherein the inside of the pouch can have a film on the inside. The film may be made of polypropylene or other material.
The present invention also provides for a flexible insulated pouch where the film bag is comprised of a polymer extrusion that is cooled into a sheet form of varying thickness.
The present invention also provides for a flexible insulated pouch that has a pouch that is a dual inner pouch that encapsulates two flexible panels of multiple plies of flexible insulated material. The multiple plies of flexible insulated material can be closed cell, flexible polypropylene foam or other flexible insulation material.
I provide a method to assemble the insulated foam pouch with a dual inner pouch by folding a flat sheet of heat-sealable film laminate in such a manner as to form a pouch with two pocket openings at a bottom side. The pouch is then heat sealed to form a permanent dual inner pouch structure containing two pockets with two openings at the bottom side. One flexible panel is placed into each pocket opening of the dual inner pouch. The dual inner pouch is then placed into the film bag so that the open end of the bottom side of the dual inner pouch is at a bottom closed end of the film bag. The film bag is heated by induction so that it is sealed to the dual inner pouch.